After more than 36 years serving in a variety of senior-level intelligence and security roles within the U.S. government, including the military, Stan Sims was considering retirement. That is, until George Schindler, President & CEO of CGI, approached him with a new mission—to help accelerate CGI’s ambitious growth strategy by transforming our enterprise security operations.

Stan accepted that mission and, over the last six years, as CGI’s Chief Security Officer, Stan and his team have worked to centralize and align CGI’s security operations centers across our locations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, as well as to optimize those operations through increased digitization and automation.

These accomplishments, combined with Stan’s decades of contributions to the security field, have led to his recognition by WashingtonExec as a top CSO to watch in 2022. WashingtonExec is a premier executive networking and news organization in the Washington D.C. area, with nearly 500 executive members and a daily newsletter with 20,000 subscribers. The organization selects every year top executives to watch—from CEOs, to CIOs, to CSOs and more.

Stan Sims

“Security should be baked in, not bolted on. It should never be an afterthought. Rather, it needs to be embedded, from the start, into everything we do. With this mindset, we can stay on top of security threats versus trying to play catch-up as they continuously evolve.”

Stan Sims
Chief Security Officer, CGI

Stan and his team transitioned CGI’s security operations from a federated model to a global and centralized one with a common platform and services. They also automated and virtualized this global approach, including connecting CGI experts around the world and creating “follow the sun” delivery capabilities.

With this model in place, we can more easily scale our security operations while adhering to the highest levels of security standards across all the countries in which we do business.

Stan and his team are now laser-focused on implementing digital and automation tools to help our global security operations keep pace as technologies and cyber threats continue to evolve and become more complex. Just as we advise our clients to make ongoing investments in mitigating security risks and driving operational efficiencies, we do the same as a company.

In response to Stan’s recognition by WashingtonExec, President & CEO George Schindler had this to say:

“On behalf of all CGI employees around world who have the privilege of working with Stan Sims, CGI’s Chief Security Officer, I am honored to endorse his nomination as a WashingtonExec Top CSO to Watch in 2022. As we have seen over the past few years, market and security dynamics are evolving rapidly and that has required leaders to be more agile, collaborative, and inclusive to guide their teams into new territory. Stan embodies all of these leadership traits, as well as CGI’s core values, in the way he leads our global enterprise security team every day in their mission to protect CGI’s and our clients’ business. Not only is Stan a sought-after coach and mentor by employees within CGI, he has become one of our most in-demand security experts by our clients given his depth of experience and service in the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, and now at CGI. On behalf of the executive team at CGI, we are proud to call him a colleague, friend, and role model not only for what he does, but for the integrity and passion he brings to our company and clients.”

Learn more about CGI’s cybersecurity services at cgi.com/cybersecurity.